CONTENTS Page 3
Editorial
4-7
Maggie’s Plan Maggie’s plan to have a baby on her own is derailed when she falls in love with John, a married man, destroying his volatile marriage to the brilliant and impossible Georgette. But one daughter and three years later, Maggie is in a quandary: what do you do when you suspect your man and his ex-wife are actually perfect for each other?
8-11
Hell or High Water A divorced dad and his ex-con brother resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family’s farm in West Texas.
12-15
Up for Love A man finds the phone of a girl and decides to invite her for dinner.
16-19
The BFG A girl named Sophie encounters the Big Friendly Giant who, despite his intimidating appearance, turns out to be a kind-hearted soul who is considered an outcast by the other giants because, unlike them, he refuses to eat children.
20-23
Ingrid – In Her Own Words A captivating look behind the scenes of the remarkable life of a young Swedish girl who became one of the most celebrated actresses of American and World cinema.
24-26
Shepperton One of the finest British Film Studios and the amazing amount of quality films that have been made there.
27-29 30 31 32
FilmFest Follower – Melbourne Extras - Mustang Maggie’s Plan Up for Love
PHOTO CREDITS: Soda Pictures: 1,12,14,15,20,22,23,32. Sony Pictures Classics:4,6,7,31. Studio Canal 8,10,11. Entertainment One: 16,18,19 Pinewood Group:26 Universal Pictures International:26 Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following for their invaluable help: Saffeya Shebli Soda Pictures Anjali Mandala of Soda Pictures Ed Frost of Soda Pictures Charlotte Presland of Studio Canal Paige Blackwood of Studio Canal 2
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EDITORIAL News has been buzzing around in Hollywood of studios facing cutbacks namely Broad Green dismissing some publicity staff, while at home Pinewood Studios are considering an offer from an American Company, while some execs are sprouting grey hairs at analytics that show that younger audiences are deserting blockbusters and cinemas in general and staying at home and watching movies via Netflix or other multiple choices of watching movies. The facts are that yes, Broad Green did cutback on staff which was mainly due to the poor box office performance of the expected hit The Neon Demon, starring Elle Fanning. Pinewood Studios received an offer of £323 million from American Property Investment Fund Venus Grafton to buy the studios. It would appear the Pinewood Board is in favour of the transaction. Hollywood worried that youngsters are deserting cinemas and blockbusters in favour of staying at home and watching them on Netflix and other alternatives ways of seeing them? It is a warning sign to multiplexes that show blockbusters which are aimed at a younger audience – so they need to rethink their programming. Here at MbM we cater for our readers who frequent art-house cinemas which show movies that are made for a discerning audience that appreciate international films. So as usual this month’s issue, its fortieth, offers reviews; our cover feature review is the romantic comedy Up for Love, starring Jean Dujardin. There are an additional four reviews: Maggie’s Plan, Hell or High Water, The BFG and the documentary Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words. Our main feature article is on the British film studio Shepperton which is part of the Pinewood Group. Our regular feature FilmFest Follower looks at the Melbourne International Film Festival, which runs for eighteen days. EXTRAS is back this month with a review of the French/Turkish film Mustang, which was reviewed in the June issue of MbM. Enjoy the read
Brian Mills Magazine Editor
Paul Ridler Magazine Designer
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MAGGIE’S PLAN
Directed by Rebecca Miller Starring: Greta Gerwig. Ethan Hawke. Julianne Moore. Bill Hader. Travis Fimmel. Maya Rudolph. Wallace Shawn. Hi Beverly, I’ve got two checks this month, not that I’m complaining, no. So can we… - Maggie Excuse me. Sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear this young lady say she got two checks and I haven’t had any… - John
Greta Gerwig is back on her own terms which will please her devotees but not her detractors. For the former it will provide another chance to witness her natural ability to charm us with her gift of comedy and that she is still the closest thing we have to a female Woody Allen that we are likely to get. For the latter it will do nothing to win them over to her brand of comedy that relies on her quirky personality which they seem to find irritating. The storyline of her latest film is about the eponymous Maggie who has a plan to have a baby on her own and even knows the exact date when she would like to conceive with the sperm donor and pickle entrepreneur Guy (Travis Fimmel). But of course as for most things in Maggie’s life, it doesn’t go as she thought it. A fellow lecturer, and aspiring fiction writer named John enters into her life. They soon bond, and their relationship deepens, despite an annoying problem that John is already married, with two children, to a brilliantly clever academic named Georgette (Julianne Moore). Fast forward three years and Maggie and John now have a child, but they have also fallen out of love. Never mind, Maggie has a plan that will get John and Georgette back together again. Will it work? You bet it will – because Maggie knows that they are really perfect for each other. 4
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The film is a beautifully crafted and superbly directed and acted. Rebecca Miller is back on form after a few lapses in her filmography, now finding comedy to be her forte. Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore are perfectly cast, and as aforementioned, Greta Gerwig has never been better. The majority of the films that MbM reviews are seen at press screenings or at film festivals. The audiences at both events are critical and knowledgeable, and are expected to be. The latter particularly so. Maggie’s Plan was shown at both Toronto, New York and Berlin film festivals. It was at Berlin that the audience went wild with enthusiasm at the opening Panorama Gala. They laughed throughout the film at the witty comments from Gerwig and as the final credits rolled they gave it a standing ovation. Greta Gerwig and Rebecca Miller walked back on stage to receive the enthusiastic applause. It should be added that Julianne Moore also received high praise for her strangely off-beat character Georgette, delivering laugh-out-loud moments in a very different role from anything she has ever done. Another supporting role that aroused the Berliners was Bill Hader as Tony, a friend of Maggie. He is hilariously funny. And that is what the film is - hilariously funny. It offers good entertainment and a slant on who is linked to whom, not an easy narrative to pull off and how that clichéd finger of fate can mess-up our plans no matter how well thought out they are. MbM has long believed that there should be an awards category at all major film festivals – an Audience Award. They are the real critics. Toronto, one of the most beloved film festivals in the world, now has an Audience Award. So it is time that the other majors: Sundance, Berlin, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Cannes, Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary, Melbourne, Venice, Rome, London, Busan, Dubai and Beijing acknowledge the appreciation of real film aficionados with an award that represents their feelings. MbM will not back down until such an award is given world-wide. And if anyone has missed seeing Maggie’s Plan at their nearest cinema – then make sure that you get the Blu-ray or DVD when it is released in a few months.
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Ethan Hawke & Greta Gerwig in Maggie’s Plan
Ethan Hawke, child, and Greta Gerwig in Maggie’s Plan 6
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Greta Gerwig and Julianne Moore in Maggie’s Plan
Greta Gerwig and Ethan Hawke in Maggie’s Plan
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HELL OR HIGH WATER * Spoiler Alert *
Directed by David Mackenzie. Starring: Chris Pine. Ben Foster. Jeff Bridges. Gill Birmingham. Katy Mixon. Dale Dickey. I’ve been poor all my life, it’s like a disease and it’s from generation to generation, but not my boys, not anymore.
- Toby. A divorced father and his ex-con brother resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family’s farm in West Texas. You don’t have to rake through too many movies to remember similar scenarios, but the film has guts and punches the air enough times in self-congratulatory mode that it was selected for the Cannes Film Festival and is also in the programme of the Melbourne Film Festival which opened on the 28th July. Chris Pine and Ben Foster play the brothers Toby and Tanner and the sympathy of the audience is meant to be with Toby, who unlike his brother, has a totally clean criminal record but has asked Tanner to help him get out of his financial mess by raising the $40,000 by the end of the week and robbing banks to get it. The banks that the pair rob are branches of Texas Midland Bank, stealing money in order to pay it back into the same bank and save their land. It is only small bills that they take from the drawers – never from the bank’s safe. They aim to hit the branches of the same bank that wittingly sold their mom an unpayable mortgage. So the villain is one that we can recognize: the US financial system, and the backdrop economic misery; debt relief billboards by the roadsides, waitresses and casino escorts desperate to make ends meet. You’ve all been here for a while? 8
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- Marcus Long enough to watch the bank being robbed. It’s been robbing me for thirty years.
Old Timer
The quality of the film is really in the landscape beautifully captured by cinematographer Giles Nuttgens who showed how high his standards were when he lensed Young Ones, which starred Nicolas Hoult, Michael Shannon, Elle Fanning and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Another great plus is having Chris Pine as its star and the very powerful supporting cast, notably the one-liners delivered by the old timer played by Paul Howard Smith, as well as the hilarious T-Bone waitress played out by Margaret Bowmen. These scenes practically steal the film from the heavyweight Jeff Bridges who faces them in these scenes. Further to this there is Dale Dickey as Elsie who suffers at the hands of Toby and Tanner while waiting for her manager to arrive to open the safe; it is a memorable scene. Jeff Bridges plays Marcus, the Sherriff, edging toward retirement and given the job of pursuing and catching the brothers, what will probably be his swan-song to hanging up his hat. He and his partner Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) a Comanche, rib each all the time with Marcus always having the last word, but Alberto gets to speak about his race and reveals a telling truth. All this was my ancestor’s land until these folk took it and now it’s been taken from them, ‘cept there’s no army doing it. It’s those sonsof-bitches right there (pointing to the Texas Midland Bank which is across from them, as Marcus and him wait for the opportunity to catch the brothers when they come to rob it). These are people who are scraping a living at the beck and call of the banks and though we may dislike the violence that Toby and Tanner use in stealing from the banks, we don’t have sympathy for them, only for the staff and customers who are hurt in the robberies. And in case you don’t get the message of the growing poverty in the area, the film spells it out for you on the highway billboards – big and in your face!
DEBT RELIEF? IN DEBT? FAST CASH – WHEN YOU NEED IT. You may just look at your local bank a little differently after this, but hey, it couldn’t happen here, could it? The real villain of Hell or High Water is not the brothers but the banks. Despite the opening sequence which fails to mention the ulterior motive of the bank robbers, I have to hold my hand up to declare it is a good film and worth seeing and I left the cinema knowing I hadn’t been robbed.
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Chris Pine in Hell or High Water
Ben Foster in Hell or High Water 10
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Chris Pine & Ben Foster in Hell or High Water
Jeff Bridges & Gill Birmingham in Hell or High Water
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UP FOR LOVE Directed by Laurent Tirand. Starring: Jean Dujardin. Virginie Efira. Cedric Kahn. Stephanie Papanian. Cesar Domboy. I’m 16 inches short.
- Alexandre
No, that’s not a big deal at all. - Diane I’ll take you on an unforgettable experience.
- Alexandre
The experience that Alexandre (Jean Dujardin) takes Diane (Virginie Efira) on is parachute jumping which she will always remember as she will also never forget her first meeting with Alexandre. It all started with her receiving a mysterious phone-call from him telling her that he had found her lost mobile and that they should meet so that he could personally hand it back to her. But their first meeting is not quite what either of them expected, as Alexandre is small – 4 foot 7. The origin of the idea came from an Argentinean film Corazon de Leon, which was a huge success in Argentina and told the story of a pretty woman who falls in love with a charming man who is a midget. Producer Vanessa Van Zuylen bought the rights and wanted Laurent Tirard to direct it. He was captivated by the story but wanted to rewrite it and Europeanize it a little. Casting the actor to play Alexandre, they thought of Jean Dujardin, their reasoning being: reducing a famous actor who has a certain sex appeal and obvious charisma to 4 foot 7 would contribute to the jubilatory feel of the film. Jean accepted within 24 hours. Finding the actress to play Diane was a lot harder and they had to hold auditions for the part. Laurent Tirard didn’t know Virginie Efra very well and hadn’t seen many of her films. But during her audition, she struck him as the obvious choice. She has an impressive flair for comedy, and plays her scenes with a rare subtlety. As for the kind of effects they were able to use.
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It could be as simple as filming Jean on his knees (framing him at shoulder level) or forcing perspectives (placing him further back so that he would look smaller), or more complicated, like in the scene in the office, when Jean is interrupted by Cedric and has to jump from the chair. For that shot, we had to raise the room 40cm, except for the spot where Jean lands. So what attracted Jean Dujardin to do the film? I was curious about how I could do it technically. Then I said to myself, that this might be the only time in my life when I could measure 4 foot 7, and I was charmed by the idea of playing a rather perfect little person who does not inspire mockery or ridicule. I had to play my character straight, not as a wise guy or sarcastic. As Virginie did too. In fact, our job was not to be funny, we were supposed to tell a love story and that’s that. I also had to play on my knees, look up to Virginie, dance alone, talk alone…it was hard but interesting. Alexandre made me feel humble. When you suddenly measure 4 foot 7, and you play on your knees, or on a chair, you become modest. But that height also modifies the way you look at things. It’s like seeing the world from a child’s height again. But this film does speak only to people who are short, it speaks to all those who have complexes. And that is very interesting. And working with Virginie Efira?
I’ve known her for a long time in real life, and so playing with her was both pleasant and self-evident. I had great confidence in her, so all I had to do was let myself go. Virginie never acts up; she is in it for pleasure. She’s intelligent, and she never gets upset: she laughs at herself and thinks with you, without ever giving the impression that she’s working. It’s very pleasant to act with someone, without having to wonder what they think of you, if they’re going to feel tired or really into it. Virginie is not the kind of actress who brings her personal problems to the set. She has the elegance of always being there to serve the project. Besides, she’s the one who carries the film; there’s something radiant about her. She’s no longer the Meg Ryan she was when she was starting out; she’s grown beyond the girl next door. Virginie is now a beautiful woman looked at by men and liked by women. She has that attractive kind of aura, as it becomes clearer from film to film. And the onscreen chemistry between Virginie Efira and Jean Dujardin in this film capitalizes on that.
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Cedric Kahn, Jean Dujardin & Virginie Efira in Up for Love
Jean Dujardin & Virginie Efira in Up for Love
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Virginie Efira & Jean Dujardin in Up for Love
Virginie Efira & Jean Dujardin in Up for Love
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THE BFG * Spoiler Alert *
Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring: Mark Rylance. Ruby Barnhill. Penelope Wilton. Jermaine Clement. Rebecca Hall. Rafe Spall. I catch dreams. This one sounds like you. There are bad dreams here too? Yeah.
- The BFG - Sophie - The BFG
Spielberg weaves his magic wand again in this screen adaptation of a Roald Dahl book – which invites your inner child to come out and play. But also is another example of the director’s ability to bring out the best in children and looking at his filmography one can see this special gift he has in working with them. DREW BARRYMORE E.T. Drew was six years old when she starred as Grace, a troubled child who finds the strength and courage to help a friendly alien escape earth and return to his home-world. CHRISTIAN BALE Empire of the Sun. Christian was thirteen when cast to play Jim, a young English boy struggling to survive under Japanese occupation during World War II. The role won Christian the National Board of Review for Best Performance by a Juvenile actor. JOSEPH MAZELLO
Jurassic Park. Spielberg wanted Joseph to play Tim and changed the ages around from the book which had Lex, the girl, older than the boy. So he was ten years old when he got the part. ARIANA RICHARDS Jurassic Park. Arianna was fourteen when she played Lex. TY SIMPKINS War of the Worlds. Ty was chosen to play Dakota Fanning’s sister, credited as ‘a three-year-old boy.’ 16
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HALEY JOEL OSMENT A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
He was in his early teens and was already showing great promise as an actor when cast in A.I., and played a highly advanced robotic boy who longs to become “real” so that he can regain the love of his human mother. He suggested to Spielberg that his character, David, should not blink. He is only seen blinking at the end of the film when he is perceived as a real boy. DAKOTA FANNING War of the Worlds. Eleven years old when she played Tom Cruise’s daughter, Rachel Ferrier, in this screen adaptation of the H. G. Welles classic. As earth is invaded by alien tripod fighting machines, one family fights for survival.
RUBY BARNHILL The BFG. Her first feature film at the age of fourteen playing a girl of ten who is abducted by a Big Friendly Giant, who unlike the other giants refuses to eat children. In the early drafts of the BFG book, the child was a boy named Jody. It was changed to the name Sophie (after Roald Dahl’s granddaughter). Mark Rylance plays the title role and is very funny. He is a joy to watch as always. And Ruby Barnhill is delightful and is the second female protagonist that Spielberg has had in one of his films, the other being in The Color Purple. If you accept the invitation to see The BFG, you will be pleased that you did because it is a heart-lifting experience to be reminded of the childhood moments which was playtime when we laughed and frolicked and we played ‘make-believe’ and could be anyone or do anything that we imagined. Promotional fliers for the film were handed-out to children attending the screening. Each bore a quotation from Roald Dahl:
Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it. It is an adage of dreamers and reminds me of the teenager who once stood outside the gates of Universal Studios watching the workers pass through the gates, all saying ‘Hi’ to the gateman. Next day the youngster joined them and acknowledged the man on the gate as he passed through. He headed for a vacant trailer and once inside took out his lunchbox which had stick-on letters in and he spelt out his name on the door and then went to find where they were filming – the kid’s name was Steven Spielberg. The ultimate dreamcatcher.
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Mark Rylance & Ruby Barnhill in The BFG
Ruby Barnhill & hand of the BFG IN The BFG 18
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Ruby Barnhill in The BFG
Mark Rylance in The BFG
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INGRID BERGMAN – IN HER OWN WORDS * Spoiler Alert *
Directed by Stig Bjorkmann. Featuring: Ingrid Bergman. Roberto Rossellini. Pia Lindstrom. Isotta Rossellini. Isabella Rossellini. Florella Mariani. Liv Ullmann. She took films more seriously than life. - Alfred Hitchcock. In 2011 Isabella Rossellini met with Stig Bjorkman and suggested to him that he make a movie on her mother Ingrid Bergman. Swedish born Ingrid entered the world in Stockholm on 29th August 1915 and died sixty-four years later on her birthday. With the help of Isabella, Bjorkman was able to make a documentary on one of Hollywood’s greatest actresses and in the star’s own words because Ingrid Bergman was a compulsive collector. I’ve always saved everything, so my memories are always with me. And those memories were strong and dear to her toward her father and it was his habit of photographing her when she was a child that made her naturally comfortable both in front of the camera and behind it. Consequently, she fell in love with films from the moment she played a bit part as an extra in a queue of fellow-actors in the film Landskamp. Her next film was a romantic comedy called Munkbregreven and was her first speaking part. Her next films were all Swedish until she landed a leading part in Intermezzo opposite Leslie Howard, which she repeated in the Hollywood remake, which in the UK was called Escape to Happiness. She loved life, loved Hollywood, loved travelling and her relationships and children suffered from her absences and she knew it: she was a friend to her children rather than a mother. If you took acting away from me, I would stop breathing. In 1942 she made her most popular film and one that would become a classic – Casablanca opposite Humphrey Bogart. Now every Hollywood studio wanted her and soon she was working for Alfred Hitchcock, who 20
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adored her, and directed her in three films: Spellbound, with Gregory Peck, Notorious, with Cary Grant, and Under Capricorn, with Joseph Cotton. The first two films were excellent and shone brightly from her growing filmography, but Under Capricorn did not do Hitchcock or Ingrid any favours – it was embarrassingly bad. Ingrid was always searching for new challenges. I don’t demand much I just want everything. And she found that everything in Italy when she made Stromboli for Roberto Rossellini whom she longed admired after seeing his Open City which starred Anna Magnani. Admiration turned to love. I fell in love with a man that was so different from anyone I had ever known.
It immediately became one of Hollywood’s biggest scandals when she had Rossellini’s children while still married to Petter Lindstrom. She was ostracised by Hollywood until 1956 when she made Anastasia opposite Yul Brynner. Because director Stig Bjorkmann has concentrated on Ingrid Bergman’s diaries and therefore her personal life and relationships it omits what I would consider valuable anecdotes on her films. We will never know how she felt about working with Humphrey Bogart or Gregory Peck. The only co-star Ingrid mentioned was Cary Grant whom she found charming. There is a glimpse of her reaction to Ingmar Bergman, which is one of the best scenes in the movie, when he wants her to improvise and she tells him that she doesn’t know how to improvise, which is understandable since all of her films would have been strictly scripted and directed that way, but Ingmar wasn’t that type of director. The scene leads to Ingrid walking off the set….until a few moments later she returns. Autumn Sonata was Ingrid’s penultimate film before she succumbed to cancer in 1982, and was undoubtedly one of her best films. There are also excellent recollections by her daughter Isabella Rossellini, Sigourney Weaver, who praised Ingrid for being so kind and helpful to her in her early career, and also comments by Liv Ullmann who made ten films by Ingmar Bergman and was Ingrid’s co-star in Autumn Sonata. For Ingrid’s enlightening to her life, revered film
aficionados it will provide an entertaining and hundred and fourteen minutes and a deep insight and like her fellow Swedish icon Greta Garbo, a legend in her own lifetime.
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Ingrid Bergman & children in Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words
Sigourney Weaver, Isabella Rossellini and Liv Ullmann in Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words 22
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Ingrid Bergman in Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words
Ingrid Bergman in Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words
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SHEPPERTON STUDIOS PINEWOOD The magic of movies is made at film studios and of the six studios based in the home counties of London, Shepperton has the richest history. Norman Loudon, a Scottish businessman, purchased Littleton Park in 1931 for his new film company, Sound Film Producing & Recording Studios, officially opening the following year. Unfortunately, the war intervened on Loudon’s plan and filming was disrupted by German bombers. The government requisitioned the studios in 1941 and it did not reopen until 1945 when Alexander Korda purchased British Lion Films and acquired a controlling interest in Sound City and Shepperton Studios. It was Alexander Korda who was involved in the production of The Fallen Idol, which starred Ralph Richardson and was directed by Carol Reed. The combination of Carol Reed and a screenplay by Graham Greene resulted in a gripping and thrilling film. But it was Reed’s next film that really cemented his credentials as one of Britain’s finest film directors because that film was
The Third Man, one of the greatest films of all-time. Again, Reed worked with Greene, and he also narrated the famous opening sequence: I never knew the Old Vienna before the war, with its Strauss music, its glamour and easy charm – Constantinople suited me better, I got to know it in the classic period of the Black Market…. In the shadow of The Third Man, Reed directed another post-war thriller set in Berlin. The Man Between, made in 1953 and starring James Mason, Clare Bloom and Hildegard Neff. An excellent film which deserves to redistributed. Come the 1950s and British Lion ran into financial difficulties and went into receivership on 1 July 1954. In January 1955, a new company, British Lion Films Ltd, was formed and Roy and John Boulting and took over at Shepperton Studios. Their major success was their comedy I’m Alright Jack in 1959, starring Peter Sellers, Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas and Richard Attenborough. The studio’s next success was in 1964 when Stanley Kubrick directed Dr Strangelove, starring Peter Sellers, George C Scott and Sterling Hayden. Four years later and Carol Reed was back at Shepperton to direct the musical Oliver! which starred Ron Moody, Mark Lester, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed. The entire film was shot at the studios.
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Despite the ups and downs of British Lion the studio was still used, though by the 70’s production became erratic. Problems surfaced when a new director of British Lion John Bentley wanted to sell the grounds for housing, since re-purposing the land would have nearly doubled its value. A compromise was proposed, and in 1973 the area of the studios was reduced from 60 acres to 20 acres. In 1984, Shepperton Studios changed hands yet again, coming under the control of brothers John and Benny Lee, who renovated the studios but soon lost control as a result of the “Black Monday” of 1987. Lee International Bankers Warburg Pincus acquired the studios, which soon became busy with the filming of TV shows as well as films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner. In 1995 the studios were purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which led to an extensive renovation and expansion and improvement of its grounds. In 2001, Shepperton Studios underwent another merger to form part of the Pinewood and Teddington Studios in the UK, as well as Pinewood Studio Berlin in Germany, Pinewood Toronto Studios in Canada, Pinewood Indonesia Studios in the Domincan Republic and Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in Malaysia. Shepperton Studios has 15 stages, ranging in size from 3,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet, five of which are equipped with interior tanks for water and underwater filming. Although often described as the home of independent film and TV production in the UK, the studios have also served as a production base for high-budget films such as Captain America: The First Avenger, the filming for which used eight of the fifteen stages. The children’s TV series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends was shot on the “T Stage” from 1984 to 2008, after which the live action models originally used were replaced with computer animation. The nearby Little House and surrounding grounds have been used as a filming location for films such as The Omen and The Young Victoria. The studios also have two large backlots, which have been used to create two castle compounds for the film 47 Ronin. If we look at the impressive list of films which have been made at Shepperton which would qualify them as arthouse movies of a very high standard the quantity over the years is astounding.
The Fallen Idol*The Third Man*The Man Between*I’m Alright Jack*The Guns of Navarone*Lawrence of Arabia*Dr Strangelove*Becket*Georgy Girl*2001: A Space Odyssey*Oliver!*Scrooge*A Clockwork Orange*The Day of the Jackal*The Omen*Star Wars*The Boys From Brazil*Alien* The Elephant Man*Gandhi*Blade Runner*Out of Africa*The Princess Bride*Hamlet*Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves*Chaplin*Four Weddings And A Funeral*The Madness of King George*Sense and Sensibility*Evita*101 Dalmatians*G.I. Jane*Shakespeare in Love* Notting Hill*Billy Elliott*Chocolat*Gladiator*Bridget Jones Diary*Gosford Park*Bend it Like Beckham*Love Actually*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*Troy*Batman Begins*Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith*Atonement*The Golden Compass*Inkheart*Moon*Nine*The Young Victoria*Clash of the Titans*Robin Hood*Hugo*Anna Karenina*Gravity*Guardians of the Galaxy*Alice Through The Looking Glass* Beauty and the Beast is scheduled for production next year. A rich and vibrant filmmaking legacy. May it continue.
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Shepperton Film Studios
Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones Baby
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FILMFEST FOLLOWER
MELBOURNE
July 28 – August 14 MbM Recommends
Opening Film THE DEATH AND LIFE OF OTTO BLOOM Directed by Cris Jones. Starring: Xavier Samuel. Rachel Ward. Matilda Brown. Otto Bloom is experiencing his life in reverse, passing through time backwards while remembering the future. Is he a psychic, a time traveller, a madman or living proof of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity?
Features PATERSON
Directed by Jim Jarmusch Starring: Adam Driver. Golshifeh Farahani. In the New Jersey town of Paterson, a man by the name of Paterson drives a bus. He keeps a copy of William Carlos Williams’ epic poem of the same name on his desk. And he’s also a poet.
THE RED TURTLE Directed by Michel Dudok De Wit. A silent animated film co-produced with Studio Ghibli. In a majestic world of intricate hand-drawn textures, a shipwrecked man is found marooned on a desert island. With his attempted escapes thwarted by the strange and larger-than-life red reptile, the man’s existence is forever altered when something extraordinary occurs.
INNOCENCE Directed by Paul Cox. Starring: Charles Tingwell. Julia Blake. Claire and Andreas met and fell in love as youths, but the relationship didn’t work out. Several decades later, they meet again and fall back in love. ]
GRADUATION Directed by Cristian Munch. Starring: Adrian Titieni. Maria-Victoria Dragus. Romeo, a middle-aged doctor, and his daughter Eliza, a gifted high-schooler on her way to Oxford once she passes her final exams. But when she is sexually assaulted, her academic chances are put in sudden jeopardy, and Romeo, a proud idealist, is forced to consider taking things into his own hands in order to ensure his daughter’s future.
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AQUARIUS Directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho. Starring: Sonia Braga. For retired music critic Clara, the beachside Aquarius building is her home: it’s where her children grew up, her marriage played out, and the bulk of her past and present glories have taken place. For the property developers they have convinced her neighbours to sell up. It’s an aging relic, earmarked for demolition to make for a brighter future.
LIFE, ANIMATED Directed by Roger Ross-Williams. Starring: Owen Suskind. When he was three years old, Owen Suskind stopped speaking. Diagnosed with autism, he was interested in nothing save for the animated films of the Disney company. Immersing himself in these movies, Owen was finally able to open up, his family discovered a porthole into their son’s mind.
EVOLUTION Directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic. Starring: Max Brebant. Roxanne Duran. Nicolas lives with his mother on a remote island inhabited only by women and young boys. In a hospital overlooking the ocean, the women administer mysterious medical treatments to their sons. But when Nicolas spies the rotting corpse of another young boy, he begins to question his situation and surroundings.
ELLE Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Starring: Isabelle Huppert. Laurent Lafitte. When CEO of a company specialising in violent video games is brutally raped during a home invasion, she goes about her daily business as if nothing has happened. Deciding not to report the crime, she instead embarks on a cat-and-mouse pursuit of her assailant – a dangerous game that will find her own sadomasochistic desires.
FRANK & LOLA Directed by Matthew Ross. Starring: Imogen Potts. Michael Shannon. Justin Lang. A psychosexual noir love story set in Las Vegas and Paris about love, obsession, sex, betrayal, revenge and ultimately, the search for redemption.
JULIETA Directed by Pedro Almodovar. Starring: Inma Cueta. Adriana Ugarte. Emma Suarez. Years have passed since Julieta’s daughter walked out on her. With no word on her child’s whereabouts, she prepares to leave Spain behind for good, but a chance encounter triggers an onslaught of memories and leave Julieta to turn her life upside down.
THE FAMILY FANG Directed by Jason Bateman. Starring: Nicole Kidman. Jason Bateman. Christopher Walken. A brother and sister return to their family home in search of their world famous parents who have disappeared. 28
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EVERYTHING IS COPY Directed by Jacob Bernstein. Documentary. Taking its title from the mantra that she inherited from her mother, Everything Is Copy paints an effervescent yet brutally honest portrait of Nora Ephron through interviews with her family, ex-husbands and high-profile collaborators such as Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan and Steven Spielberg. From talks of her gossip-laden public life to the intimate moments on her deathbed, this is a heartfelt eulogy that celebrated one of the bravest, most ruthless and invigorating women of our time.
MISS IMPOSSIBLE Directed by Emile Deleuze. Starring: Pauline Acquart. Axel Aurient-Blot. Tessa Blandin. Boys, parents, school, siblings; these are the ordinary obsessions of an ordinary teen. But like all teens, Aurore is extraordinary.
EMO THE MUSICAL Directed by Neil Triffet. Starring: Benson Jack Anthony. Jordan Hare. Having been kicked out of his old school, Ethan just wants to start afresh and after being accepted to join his new school’s grouchy emo band, Worst Day Ever, he thinks he’s finally found his place. But when the school’s sunshine-and-rainbows Hope Group decides to compete alongside Worst Day Ever in the local band competition, it pits the ideologically and musically opposed against each other. There couldn’t be a worse time for Emo Ethan and the Hope Group’s kind-hearted and faithful singer Trinity to fall in love.
Closing Film HELL OR HIGH WATER Directed by David MacKenzie. Starring: Chris Pine. Ben Foster. Jeff Bridges. A divorced dad and his ex-con brother resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family’s farm in West Texas.
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EXTRAS DVDS/BLU-RAYS MbM's Recommendation.
MUSTANG Directed by Deniz Gamze Erguven Starring: Gunes Sensoy. Doga Zeynep Doguslu. Tugra Sunguroglu. Eli Iscan. Ilayda Akdogan. In the beginning of summer in a small village in northern Turkey, Lale and her four sisters are on their way home from school, innocently playing with local boys but prying village eyes view their games with suspicion and word soon reaches their family. Their home consequently becomes a prison at the hand of their uncompromising uncle and all the girls now have to live for is a future of arranged marriages. But these girls rebellious streak will not be tamed so easily. Drawing vocal support from critics, festivals and audiences across the globe, this beautiful debut from director Deniz Gamze Erguven is a touching portrayal of innocent strength and resilience against modern misogyny.
EXTRAS *Director’s Fortnight Interview with Deniz Gamze Erguven. *Short Film Bir Damla (A Drop of Water). *Trailer.
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